Steph helps Gia deal with frustration when a blizzard lengthens a weekend trip, and Danny can’t get back to host “Wake Up, San Francisco” since he’s stuck as chaperone. Steve & D.J. discuss how the Olsen Twins made it big since “Fuller House” established them as real in canon. Steph’s part could be in my Season 9; see profile for others.

Under the Weather

A/N: Early March. Sudden blizzards can come to Lake Tahoe and it gives me an excuse to use one that happened to our youth group when a blizzard kept us from going home.

Had it been one of my 9th season eps people would be missing as I’ve doen elsewhere, though the actor who played Steve was signed so as he’d have reason to be there (Plus the lack of a kiss is very likely as NetU Point of Departure.) However, now they’re here because I had bits with Steph written over a year ago but needed something else.

That something was how the Olsen Twins get into acting, etc. in the “Full House” Universe. Joey was going to be in a show called Surf's Up, which then was changed to a cartoon, so, the network was probably desperate enough in universe to try the idea I’ll present.(Because after all, they thought making “Surf’s Up” a cartoon would help.) Mary Kate and Ashley would have been 5 years old when Surf's Up was cancelled and could have become kids who became really big in a show that takes a number of popular things, and… you’ll see..

There will also be a small epilogue which will show Stephanie’s TVU future, because D.J. and Steve being together changes things, and them not together the clear Point of Departure for NetU, as shown in my story “Who Let the Dogs In?”

Referenced in the epilogue is Samantha from the Sam Series by RKORadio and what happens to her in the TVU(NetU is the same.) So, too, is the “Fuller House” history (NetU). The Lisa here is Stephanie’s Honeybee friend several houses away (Stephanie walked home barefoot in “Slumber Party”) who, since Steph had no other friends in school, is either in a private school or homeschooled. I’ve used her and her family in other fics this way. Mention of Debbie and Darla is from my “Best Things In Life Are Free,” a 200th episode idea.

Finally, I don’t own “Fuller House” but as I said in “Working with the Stars,” anyone is free to use this concept of how the Olsens can make it big in the “Full House” universe.

Under the Weather

(Teaser) Catching Food – Danny, Michelle, Nicky, Alex

Nine-year-old Michelle Tanner was organizing her soccer outfit in her overnight bag. Her dad, widower Danny Tanner, walked into the room she shared with fourteen-year-old Stephanie. Their mom had died when Michelle was a baby. Their oldest sister, D.J., had been ten and was now a freshman at San Francisco State, though still living there to save on room and board.

“Ready for your travelling soccer team trip?”

“Yep. Uncle Jesse’s giving us hair care tips while he chaperones,” Michelle announced as she put her helmet in her bag. “Did he really take longer in the bathroom than Mom?”

Danny sat as he spoke. “He likes to say that. It was just one of those fun sibling competitions to look back on and laugh.”

“Nicky and Alex have one, too. Show him,” Michelle said. Suddenly, each threw a Cheerio in the air and tried to catch it in their mouths, though they missed.

Danny raced over to pick up the dropped Cheerios as Michelle spoke. “Sorry, Dad; I guess their memories will be messier.”

--------------------

“Promise not to embarrass us, Dad?” Stephanie asked her father, Danny Tanner, as they sat in the living room in early March, 1996.

“Of course. Steph. Why do you think I’d embarrass you?”

“Well, you get pretty anxious about things, sometimes, and…”

Stephanie’s Aunt Becky came down with some luggage, followed by her twin boys, Nicky and Alex, four. “Okay, Jesse’ll be back from be back from the trip with Michelle’s soccer team and then he’s joining us in beautiful Nebraska,” she said of her husband, Jesse Katsopolis.

“I’m sure the wedding out there will be wonderful,” Stephanie said excitedly.

“It will be. I can’t wait for Jesse to see the groom’s Elvis impersonation. I hope he’s impressed,” Becky replied.

“I thought he’d met the groom before,” Stephanie asserted.

“He did; last time your Uncle Jesse was giving him pointers,” Becky explained.

“Mommy, have those girls’ parents learned to be nicer?” Nicky asked.

“We helped a lot, didn’t we/” Alex added.

Becky nodded. “From what I here, since they were here last and we taught them about helping others, Debbie and Darla have doubled down on doodness…. Goodness.” She breathed deeply. “that’s a tip, boys, if you ever get into media – if you think you’ll have problems with a tongue twister or something, get your flub out of the way early.”

“Is that why Mommy says Daddy gives bad advice sometimes?” Nicky asked Alex as they followed Becky out the door.

Alex shrugged. “It must be. She says he does it a lot sometimes.”

Danny looked a little downcast as Joey came in from the kitchen once Becky and the boys had left. “I forgot to make sure Becky was flying in late Sunday evening.”

“Danny, relax,” Joey insisted. “If you’re worried about your show, even if she doesn’t make it, the weather for Lake Tahoe is supposed to be great; 42 degrees and partly cloudy.”

“I know; I just worry about sudden storms in that area. It’s not too late, you know.”

“Right, Dad, that’s why I’m a little nervous when you chaperone. Sometimes you want to leave a hour after we get there instead of spending the night,” Stephanie informed him.

“I know, but helping with Michelle’s soccer team when it travels, I’ve gotten better, right?”

“Plus, you’ve got me; Suzie and I have plans, but we’ll fly back from where I’m performing Sunday evening and I’ll be there if I have to be,” Joey reminded him.

“You’re right. I’ve always had so much help from you and Jesse, from D.J. when she had to react to things.’ Danny grinned. “You’re right, Steph, it’ll be fine. What do I have to worry about?”

Steve and D.J. sat on the couch Saturday evening in the Tanner home. “Okay,” D.J. suggested to Michelle and her gathered slumber party friends, “everyone want to watch a video now? Let's look at the tapes from one of the first season ‘Horse Sense’ episodes.”

“You have those, Deej?” Steve wanted to know as D.J. open one cabinet to reveal a number of VCR tapes. He knew the stars had videos but didn’t realize they had taped episodes.

“Yeah,” D.J. said as she sorted through ones from television series, catalogued by calendar year. She searched specifically in the 1991 and 1992 sections.

“Wow, I'm impressed at how your dad does that.”

D.J. pulled the tapes out and turned to Steve. “Yeah, Dad is super organized, isn't he?”

“No, I just meant how many tapes he has.” Steve remembered that the Tanners had taped a lot but didn't realize it had been this much.

D.J. didn't want to say that Michelle had been grounded from television - sometimes by D.J. when Danny was too lax - the first couple seasons the show was on and that Danny had taped shows for her. Michelle had begun to behave a lot better soon after Disney World. D.J. merely said, “’Horse Sense’ was always one of Michelle's favorite shows.”

“I can believe that. You know,” Steve told the gathered children, “there are some great adventure movies that were kind of combined to make ‘Horse Sense.’”

“None of which starred horses,” D.J. said nonchalantly, with a hint of confusion over how that could be.

“I think Indiana Jones at least rode a horse,” Steve concluded as the pilot episode came on. It was actually named after the Time Travelling family in the first season. “Anyway, here in the pilot episode are several big films. The place where the man and his twin girls go back in time? That's from Back to the Future.”

Coulda fooled me, Kimmy finally said after serving snacks to the girls. “I thought it was Home Alone.”

“Good one, Kimmy,” Steve complimented her.

“No, really, I thought maybe the parents had been sent back in time accidentally or something.”

“Well, they did use aspects of that early on,” D.J. explained. “Michelle could probably share what happened pretty easily.”

“Yep,” Michelle said confidently. “See, he doesn't know his girls stowed away in his time travelling Jeep. So, they have adventures while he's back trying to find lost treasure.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, it's like for the first few episodes they tried to combine Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, and Home Alone.”

“So. he hitched a horse trailer to his Jeep the next time he went back to that time period, and he picked up his twin girls along with a horse or five,” Michelle added.

“What they thought they would do with a horse from the Middle Ages, I don't know. They’re lucky it didn’t have bubonic plague,” Kimmy said.

“I think it was to lure the girls back,” D.J. informed her. “although, horses don’t get bubonic plague. As for the people, well, I guess newers just figure they’ve been vaccinated and otherwise it’s like Star Trek’s universal translators. The less they’re explained, the better.”

“Which is probably one reason they went back to a family show after that first season or so and put it out in the country,” Steve said. “Mary Kate and Ashley really became the stars even in the first episode because they were so cute on those horses from the Middle Ages trying to find dragons to fight. When they renewed for the next season, they decided to have the guy buy some land and settled down, like D.J. said.”

“I thought he owned the land,” one of Michelle’s friends said.

“That was confusing,” D.J. confessed. “One of the comedy angles was that he did own it because of something from centuries ago that he had caused. That and some love interests and figures brought forward in time kept adults interested while you and your friends were all interested in their adventures, Michelle.”

“I know; Uncle Jesse really wants to see the one in May there they’l bring Elvis on,” Michelle announced.

“I’ll bet. The show still didn’t survive the cuts on ABC after 3.5 years, so it moved to a new network this past offseason,” Steve mentioned.

He turned to D.J. and spoke further as the show played. He considered that were it not for that passionate kiss at the prom, they likely would never have gotten back together. He wasn’t sure what he would have done then. He supposed he could have just dedicated himself so much to studies he never had free time, and then… who knows? Become a doctor? He ws just glad Jesse’s dad, Nick, had trusted him with the extermination business. He’s already had to take out a loan to buy it when nick retired, though.

It’s funny, Deej,” Steve said. “It's like our own TV trope - well, I guess it's a movie trope - because like Back to the Future if we don't kiss at the prom I don't know what I do. I've never been as serious a student as I could have been, but I might have committed myself and worked so hard I could have gotten to medical school. Then I’d have probably had hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt instead of just a few thousand.”

The phone rang as he was speaking. D.J. answered. “Oh, hey, Aunt Becky, how did the wedding go?” D.J. asked.

“It was fabulous; Jesse and I are spending a little time with the faily. Say, we tried to get the flight moved up, but we couldn’t – when your dad calls, could you let him know he’ll have to do the show himself Monday, it appears.”

“Sure, I’ll tell him,” D.J. promised.

Danny looked at the phone in stunned disbelief Sunday evening as the youth group waited in the lodge. "What do you mean all of the roads are closed past a certain point?" He sighed. "Ok." He hung up as Stephanie and Gia walked up to him.

"Why the long face Mr. Tanner?" Gia asked. "Don't you know how big of a sale there is tomorrow? I live for sales like this. And the way you love cleaning, I thought for sure you’d love cleaning up on savings."

“Well, Gia,” Danny said, “I've tried several places and so has your youth group leader. There is a huge blizzard in the area and they're saying the past a certain point it's pretty much closed. Which means we’ll be here another night.”

"But don't worry, Gia, I remember when this happened to our Disneyland trip when I was little. The airline reimbursed us since it had been cancelled because of fog, and we had a great time a few weeks later," Stephanie assured her.

Gia was quite frustrated at her. “Don't you understand, Tanner? Disneyland was always there. Sales aren't. And the same clothes won't be there tomorrow afternoon or evening or whenever we get home,” Gia griped.

Stephanie sensed that Gia was in one of her typical moods. She knew life had been very difficult for Gia, but things could be quite positive if she kept her mind on the right things. The best things in life, after all, were free.

“How can this get worse?” Gia asked absently.

“I know how you feel too,” Danny said. “If we have to spend the night then I won't be able to make my show in the morning.”

Gia threw her arms out and flapped them back at her side. “So we’ll actually be stuck here. Okay, that's how it could get worse! I don't have any clothes for another night.”

“None of us does,” Stephanie's friend Lisa from down the block said.

Stephanie concurred. “Just pretend. We could be pioneers on the frontier, or even astronauts. she added wryly that, They don't even go to the bathroom on Star Trek. Some people wonder if the Enterprise has bathrooms.”

Gia scowled. “Pretend? You may not have noticed, but Nicky and Alex are not here; Michelle isn’t even here.”

“It's all in how you look at it Gia,” Stephanie said matter-of-factly. “You can look at it as an adventure.” Gia stomped away. “Or, you can just sulk.”

The next morning, the gathered youth were milling about happily munching on a free continental breakfast. However, Gia was sulking in a chair and Danny had a guitar in his hands and sang in a corny, sing-song fashion, “How will we wake up San Francisco. All of the hosts have been delayed,” to the tune of “I Left My heart in San Francisco.”

“At least you’re trying to be positive, Dad,” Stephanie said. “But, look at it this way – Joey, Uncle Jesse, and Aunt Becky weren’t able to get back, but Steve’s there, and he’s done the radio show with Uncle Jesse and Joey before.”

“I guess. I just feel such a responsibility; I tried to call to get bckups. I know the station can probably find someone on short notice, but still…”

“Thinking about your late wife?” the youth pastor asked.

Danny nodded. “She always had everything under control. But, hey, you’re right, why be depressed? I can share the little ditty I started; sort of a parody.”

“What little ditty?” Stephanie wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear this or not. Joey’s parodies were funny, but he was a comedian. She wasn’t sure what her dad would do.

“A long, long time ago,” Danny crooned to the tune of “American Pie” while playing the guitar. “I can still remember how your mother used to make me smile. Her excitement brought so much joy; we had a love none could destroy. And happy memories we had a pile.” Stephanie did a small face palm. “But, one spring day bad news came calling. The accident it was appalling. It confirmed my worst fears. Her death had cut short our years. For you girls sadness I would hide, to be strong and raise you I tried. Still I think about my dear bride, and when Pam Tanner died.”

“I can’t believe you say he used to be worse,” Gia said.

“He’s not cleaning obsessively,” Stephanie pointed out. At least this had made Gia speak.

Danny continued to sing. “I was thinking, I, I have three girls to raise, my! I know Jesse, also Joey will give it a good try. D.J. might have to step in on the fly, but somehow together we will get by. Somehow together we’ll get by.” He jumped up and started singing more exuberantly, “Well do you recall that first day, already one tried to move away; make a garage home sweet home. Well, for Joey the garage looked sweet, while Oat Boats made a tasty treat….”

“Enough already,” Gia shouted.

Danny grinned. “I have to – I can’t come up with a good line to rhyme with ‘home.’”

“Look…” Gia grumbled. She needed to be reminded sometiems that what she was concerned about was nothing compared to what some faced, but this was ridiculous “I know you miss your wife, and it’s a lot worse than what I’m worried about, but come on. Your anniversary was the prom in early May, she died in May, it’s not her birthday…” She stomped back to a chair in the lobby and sat down with her head in her hands.

Stephanie sat beside her, with Lisa on the other side, after a moment of whispering. “Come on, Gia, I know it’s rough, but…”

“Look, I don’t want to hear about how things will get better, or God’s going to get me through this, or anything like that. And that also means I don’t want you to sing one of our youth group songs, either,” Gia said.

“Fine, I won’t,” Stephanie said with a knowing grin.

“Thanks… wait.’ Gia looked at her, visibly confused and a little suspicious. “You never give up that easy. In fact, that’s the same look you had right before I promised to stop smoking and you said you’d sing Barney songs if I ever lit up.”

“It worked, right?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, but…” She studied Stephanie’s face. “Now what?”

“You said no youth group songs, so I know another good one.” Stephanie began to sing. “If just one person believes in you…”

“Oh, no, even worse – a Muppet song!” Gia groaned.

“Deep enough, and strong enough, believes in you…” Stephanie sang melodiously by herself, till Lisa joined right after Stephanie sang, “making it:” Lisa and Stephanie sang from the words “two whole people who believe in you,” with Danny and then others joining in later. At appropriate times, till Stephanie finished singing, “Maybe even you can believe in you too.”

Gia smiled despite herself. “You must really care about me, Tanner, to sing a song like that in public like you did just now.” She wiped a tear away. “Sometimes I still feel like I have to be the coolest or act so tough, even surrounded by all you guys,” she told the group gathered around her. “And then you go and do something like this… as corny as it was, it really makes me see how much I’m loved.”

“You are. Gia, I know I go overboard sometimes when it comes to helping you.” Stephanie didn’t mention the joyride with Gia, which she thought might have been to convince her that it was worth it to care for others, even though in retrospect she should have put her foot down and said “no” right away so Gia would see it was wrong and dangerous. “But, we want you to learn to be positive – the glass isn’t always half empty.”

“It’s something you probably never really got encouraged about when you were little,” the pastor said. “Whereas Steph was too little to know about refunds or vouchers or anything but after a while she learned to believe something good could happen even before they got to go to Disneyland later.”

“Right; tthat helped her see things could work out,” Danny said.

“Even that weekend you still eventually had a good time, right, Stephanie?” the pastor’s wife asked.

“Sure; even with Mom’s passing, we still had lots of great times,” Stephanie concurred.

“Whereas you saw so much bitterness and anger the way your parents fought, Gia, pretty much since you can remember, it’s still hard sometimes for you to imagine things working out well. When things are fine you’ve started to have faith, but at times like this it’s still hard. That’s where it’s so important to have friends who lift you up, instead of being with people who tear you down all the time,” the pastor finished.

Stephanie agreed. “That’s why we always encourage you to build others up, so you can have others build you up. It won’t always be the same people, but someone will.”

“That’s the way God’s people should be,” the pastor’s wife said. “We should be known by our love, and be the most caring people out there, to help those who are hurting.” She was so glad Gia had made that decision to trust Jesus Christ to save her from her sins and call on Him by faith to forgive her and make hernew inside. But, while salvation was instant, that change was a process as one gave more and more things for God to handle; especially someone who had been through all Gia had.

“That’s right. Just like I’m sure, even with Becky in Nebraska, Joey with Suzie, somehow my show is being taken care of,” Danny said enthusiastically.

D.J. and Steve sat on the set of “Wake Up, San Francisco.” “Okay, Michelle’s going to school with Denise, do you think anyone else will show up?” D.J. asked nervously.

“On in one minute,” they heard.

“I don’t know, but I can always go over recipes like your Aunt Becky does sometimes.”

“With lines like that, you might be better off in my dad’s role,” D.J. spouted.

“Come on, Deej, we do have one guest to talk to. Well, two, if you count a mime.”

“I’m not counting on a mime to be a great interview,” D.J. quipped.

“Well, you never know; they might have really interesting lives outside of miming. Maybe they wind up in phone booths all the time because they’re changing into Superman,” Steve suggested.

“Fifteen seconds.”

“Superman as a… hold that thought.” D.J. heard the countdown and – at the appropriate time – said, “Time to wake up, San Francisco. You might call this ‘The Next Generation,’ weather has some people trapped, so I’m Danny tanner’s daughter, D.J. tanner.”

“And, I’m Steve Hale.”

D>J. confessed, “This is why I’m more certain that I want to go into the medical field and not journalism. Tell everyone what we were just talking about, Steve.”

“We were discussing how a mime managed to get into a phone booth because he’s changing into Superman.” Steve chuckled. “Boy, Deej, I just realized that joke…” He shook his head.

“Probably reminds our viewers of my dad,” D.J. began, not wanting Steve to say how lousy it was. She knew they had to remain positive.

“Actually, it makes me hungry. One guest we have had some really good bagels backstage he shared with me,” Steve uttered.

They continued with the show, talking for quite a while with one guest. A couple messages were on their machine when they got home sharing when people would finally arrive.

Danny hugged D.J. as they got home; Stephanie came in behind him with her suitcase and trudged upstairs with it. “Hey, honey, I hope everything went well. Say, you didn’t happen to catch the show before class, did you?”

“Yep; in fact, Steve and I were the show.” Danny was stunned. “Oh, we did have one guestk – two if you count a mime. Although, even that got entertaining when Steve suggested he was trapped in that phone booth because he was changing into Superman.”

“Well, I’m glad you pulled it off. Thanks,” Danny said proudly.

D.J. looked up to the landing where Stephanie was. “How’d Gia like that extra day?”

“Not bad; I’ll tell you later,” Stephanie called back before going into her and Michelle’s room to change. She had a great time sharing about it and laughing about it later.

________________________________________

Epilogue

A few years after that, Stephanie and D.J. were in D.J.’s and Steve’s home a year after their wedding.

“That was a great high school graduation,” D.J. said.

“Thanks.” Stephanie sat on the couch, with D.J. beside her. “Hard to believe I’ll be in college soon. You know, I have a feeling if you and Steve hadn’t hit it off at the prom and right after, you’d have met someone and gotten married by now anyway.”

D.J. affirmed this. “I might have. Something on your mind?”

“Well, I’m just thinking about all the chances at stardom I could have had. Remember when I did the Oat Boats ad?” D.j. recalled it. “I don’t want to settle down right away. Eventually I’d like to teach ballet or drama or something. I guess I want to give something a chance where I wouldn’t have to to be rehearsing all the time, and yet I could really make an impact.”

“So, you’d like to try to do some ads?” D.J. asked.

Stephanie told her only a few. “I mean, that’s not what’s going to change the world. But, it might get me some exposure. What I’d really like to focus on is my writing.” Stephanie grinned. “Sorry, Deej, I’ve got so many ideas right now.”

“I understand completely; between nursing and maybe veterinary school, I had a lot of decisions to make coming out of high school. Even after I turned down Journalism and it came back to try to entice me once.”

D.J. liked that idea. “That sounds like you, Steph. Take on a writing project and then devote yourself to it. You don’t wish you’d taken up dance like you had a chance, do you?” she wondered, knowing Stephanie could be playing the what-if game. “Steve and I have talked about how he might have pushed himself to the limit and become doctor if he’d really tried; but, he’s perfectly happy running the exterminating business.”

“No, it’s not that; I can always adopt or even devote myself to making sure kids in those positions aren’t being taken advantage of. You know, Michelle met that one friend who’s a movie star, and while it didn’t lead to as much as it could have – I can see if you aren’t with Steve Dad taking us down to Hollywood and meeting all kinds of cool people – but it did show me that sometimes, the system doesn’t take care of people as much as it should.”

D.J. patted her on the back. “And, there’s your first book, Steph. A guide for parents of children who want to be in Hollywood,” D.J. said enthusiastically.

“Yeah,” Stephanie said, her eyes lighting up.up. “Thanks, Deej; you’re right. Maybe some stuff on adoption with my old dance teacher and that Sam – she’s been through a lot but she is going to be a prima ballerina, I can tell. “

“And you can write it with people like them in mind,” D.J. proclaimed.

Stephanie and she stood as the younger sister said, “It can be rough for them, but it’s actually more dangerous for parents of kids without the issues Sam’s had because they might not know what some of the pitfalls are to stardom and how to avoid them.”

“All it takes is a little sisterly talk to come up with this stuff, huh?” D.J. said as they embraced.

“Yep. Deej, with the internet, I don’t have to worry about being bound by some big name publisher, either. Although why figure I can’t? That’s why I’m going to college.”

“Exactly, Steph.” D.J. mused aloud that, “You might be the type who – if things had broken a bit differently – could have made some contacts, maybe written a few songs, and lived off of those an had fun. But, I think you’re a freer spirit; you’re more in tune with helping others avoid the pitfalls like you said.” She noticed Stephanie was still thinking. “Is there something else?”

“I guess what inspired it is, I’ve been thinking. If Sam was in a different school district, you know Michelle kept pushing me to help others after that first day of Kindergarten, saying I was sucha genius? Maybe I’d have been helping Sam.”

“Maybe. But, now she has that fabulous family and all the one-on-one attention she needs, and you can help the parents of lots of kids like her,” D.J. encouraged her.

Stephanie nodded. “You’re right. And, that’s just what I’m going to do. Thanks, Deej,’ she said as they hugged again.

“Anytime, Steph.”

Author’s note: And, of course, in the Sam Series, being Book Universe, that is what she does. This is sort of a happy medium between NetU and BU, where the more mothering Stephanie, with the D.J. influence, is dedicated to help Samantha rise to stardom and chase her dreams while being very protective(like Danny) and helping her avoid the pitfalls that can come from it. (As you’ll see if you haven’t read it, there are a few books that point to such a thing, most notably Stehpaine, at only twelve, being mature enough to be trusted to use Danny’s credit card! This is mentioned in Sam Series 2: Stephanie Tames the Shrew

All of that, of course, is Book Unvierse, and in TVU, with a Point of Departure in 1984-5 – no office in the fourth bedroom - the butterfly effect is such that the family moves into a different school district, and as shown in a couple of my fics, Steph’s dance teacher (“Lust in the Dust”) winds up adopting Sam.)